Speak Now
by ImaSupernaturalCSI
Summary: But you are not the kind of boy who should be marrying the wrong girl. Danny's marrying Rikki, and the whole lab has serious issues with that. D/L, DannyRikki
1. Barging In On a White Veiled Occasion

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of "CSI:NY"; they belong to Anthony E. Zuiker and CBS. Chapter titles and story title are from the song "Speak Now" by Taylor Swift, which I also don't own.**

**Author's Note****: It's been a long time since the Rikki fiasco, but she fit so perfectly here I had to have her as my antagonist. Constructive criticism is usually warranted and always appreciated.**

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><p><strong>Prologue: Barging In On a White-Veiled Occasion<strong>

The church doors creaked open, and Lindsay Monroe silently slipped inside the massive church. _So not like him, a big church with half the population of Montana in the pews. He's more of a "Hey baby, let's go to Vegas" kind of guy._ She glanced around. The ushers, two of Rikki's cousins, if she remembered right, were busy handing out flyers. They weren't checking names and IDs. She snaked a program and slipped up the stairs into the back of the church.

"Monroe?"

Lindsay jumped out of her skin, then turned to see a tuxedoed Don Flack standing in the door. "What the hell are you doin' here?" he asked her, his eyes wide in shock. "Rikki'll murder you."

Lindsay got up, grabbed Don by the tie, and slipped into the crying room in the back. She closed the door behind her and turned to face him. "You and I _both_ know this marriage'll never last. Rikki'll get bored, and Danny will be miserable. I'm surprised his _best friend_ hasn't stepped in!"

"I've tried!" Flack threw his hands in the air. "You _know_ we've tried. Me, Stella, Mac, hell, even Adam and Hawkes! But ever since Ruben, Danny's felt responsible for Rikki. It started out as just sex, and then she played him into falling for her, played the pity card, and he gave her a freakin' ring!" He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know what to do." He looked at her. "I'd rather have it be you up there, Monroe," he said earnestly.

She felt a twinge in her stomach. _Yeah I'd rather it was me, too_, she thought. "We can't let him go through with this, Don. We just can't."

He raised an eyebrow. "You got somethin' in mind? 'Cause in about fifteen minutes, they're both gonna be at the altar, and about fifteen minutes after that she's gonna be Mrs. Daniel Gabriel Messer."

Flack glanced around. Rikki's mother came by the crying room, and Flack pushed Lindsay up against the wall, out of sight. "Man I'm surprised they're not using fingerprint scanners to keep you out, Lindsay."

She shrugged. "No background check or blood work required to be a spectator, Flack, just a participant." She gently pushed him away, and adjusted his tie. "I'm a Montana girl, Flack, we don't just back away at the sign of a challenge. We take the bull by the horns and wrestle him to the ground."

Lindsay looked at her watch. "You better get back to your post, Best Man," she said. "The less you know, the less you have to testify to later." She winked.

Flack gave her half a smile. "Why do I get the feelin' you're gonna do somethin' extremely stupid?"

She gave him a full-out grin. "I intend to raise a little hell today, Flack. With or without your help. Let's just say that when they ask for objections, there's gonna be a few!"


	2. Don't Say Yes

**Chapter One: Don't Say Yes**

_One month earlier_….

She'd lost her best friend.

One horrible, terrifying accident later, and Lindsay Monroe's best friend was gone. This morning he'd gotten to work late-again, and she could smell Rikki's way-too-expensive for her perfume on his gray sweatshirt and jeans. His spiky hair was messier than usual. It didn't take a detective to figure out where he'd spent his time.

Lindsay did her best to be there for him. But Danny Messer had shut the world out. His world revolved around Rikki Sandoval, and the guilt he felt that he'd killer her little boy. He was trying to make up for it by losing himself in his job, in her arms…and he thought it was working.

Lindsay Monroe and Don Flack knew better. The two of them were eating lunch on a bench downtown. The sun was shining overhead, and it was a balmy 80 degrees…but neither of them felt the sun.

"He slept over at her place again, didn't he?" Flack asked, though he didn't have to. He could see it in Lindsay's defeated posture. In the way her brown eyes had lost their sparkle. It used to be when he would tease her about Danny, her eyes would light up and her cheeks would flush. Now if you mentioned his name, she turned a pale white, and her eyes lost the life in them.

_I'm not mad at you_, she'd told Danny once. _I'm mad at myself. Because I've fallen in love with you…and now I have to learn to let that go._ Trouble was, she was having a hard time of it. It broke _both_ hers and Flack's hearts to see Danny spending all his time with Rikki.

Flack knew his best friend wasn't thinking with his upstairs brain. But Danny got really touchy about it when he brought it up. Flack had given up. He didn't know how else to beat some sense into his friend.

But Lindsay wasn't letting go so easily. "Yeah. Third night this week, even if he thinks we don't notice. Even Adam mentioned something the other day. I thought Danny was gonna throw something at him."

"She's screwing with his head," Flack declared.

"You know it and I know it. It's a shame Danny's so stuck in his guilt that he doesn't see that she's using him. It's not love, it's... grief and hormones."

"Don't get me wrong. I mean, the way Rikki lost Ruben, that was terrible. No parent should ever have to go through that in a million lifetimes. But I _know_ Rikki. She's always wanted Danny. I used to come over to play pool and see her chatting with him in her doorway. She used to get real obnoxious when I'd show up, like I was taking him away from her. And she's never liked me."

"Maybe it's 'cause you could see right through her," Lindsay offered, and Flack chuckled. "Anyway. She's trapping him with the guilt trip. Making him think he owes her. He doesn't owe her anything, it wasn't his fault!"

"And if she really loved him she'd know that, and she'd tell him as much. Instead she's holding it over his head."

Lindsay said, after a moment, "I'm scared, Flack. He's showing up late for work. He never wants to spend any time with Hawkes, or Adam anymore. He's pulling himself into a little Rikki hole and he's never going to come out." She sighed, picking up her sandwich and then realized she wasn't hungry anymore. "He's self-destructing."

Flack watched her thoughtfully. "It must be hard to love him and know he's pulling away, huh?" he asked her.

She sighed. "You have no idea," she replied finally.

Flack's phone rang. Flack glanced at the caller ID and grimaced. "I'm sorry Linds, that's-"

"Angell. Go ahead. It's okay. Thanks for lunch." Flack got up with an apologetic wave as he headed down the sidewalk to take the call. Lindsay leaned back on the bench and sighed. Her unfinished sandwich was left on her seat as she left to go back to work. She caught a cab downtown and got back to the lab on the last minute of her lunch break.

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><p>She ran into Sheldon Hawkes as she stepped off the elevator. Hawkes seemed startled to see her. "Lindsay!... Hi."<p>

"Hi," she replied suspiciously. "What?" She glanced at herself in the glass. "Do I have mustard on my shirt or something?"

He shook his head. "No. It's just um…." He glanced over his shoulder. Then he pulled her aside and into the stairwell that led to locker rooms. "Look. You might not wanna-"

Then she heard cheers and applause coming from the break room. Before Hawkes could stop her, Lindsay brushed past him and poked her head around the corner.

Danny was standing in front of most of the lab. Blake, Adam and Mac were all standing there. Rikki was with him, tears in her eyes and a happy smile plastered on her face.

Lindsay's heart sank. She sucked in her breath. Her thoughts were confirmed when Rikki held up her hand, showing off the small diamond ring on her hand.

Danny glanced up and saw Lindsay standing in the doorway. He opened his mouth to say something, but Lindsay turned abruptly and disappeared down the hall. She ducked into the locker room and sank against the back of the door. She buried her head in her arms and cried.

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><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>**: Oh I know, it's a little angsty but...tell me what you think of it anyway.**


	3. Not What You Thought It Would Be

**Disclaimer****: I don't own the characters of "CSI:NY"-they belong to Anthony E Zuiker and CBS. "Speak Now" and it's lyrics belong to Taylor Swift. Who I am not.**

**CHAPTER TWO: Not What You Thought It Would Be**

_T-minus 3 weeks to the wedding…_

Lindsay went through the rest of the week on automatic pilot. If Mac Taylor had fired her, she wouldn't have been surprised. At the end of the day, she clocked out and went back to her apartment, barely remembering getting into the cab. _He's marrying her_. _He's marrying Rikki_. She took the stairs to her apartment with leaden feet. _He's going to stand up next to her and be pronounced 'Man and Wife.'_

She didn't know if she was frustrated, or mad, or sad. Maybe it was all three. She just couldn't believe he'd jumped to this decision. She'd thought she was going to have a chance to get him back. She was all set to fight for him…and then he'd proposed.

Lindsay sank onto her couch and tugged her cell phone from her pocket. She dialed a familiar number.

"Hello?"

She smiled, though it took a little effort. "Hey, Stella."

Stella Bonasera's voice rang clear through the phone. "Hi kiddo," she said. "How's the lab? Fallen apart since I've been on vacation?"

"Still standing. We miss you." Lindsay paused. "Sorry to bug you on vacation."

Stella could hear the tension in her friend's voice over the distance. "Linds?" Stella asked. "What's wrong?"

There were no secrets between Stella and Lindsay. Not since Montana, and the trial. The two confided _everything_ in each other. "Danny's getting married," Lindsay said in a hoarse whisper. Tears stung the outside of her vision.

There was a beat at the other end of the phone. "You're kidding me." Stella said flatly. "You've _got_ to be kidding me!" The fiery Grecian goddess was coming alive. "He's _marrying_ her?"

Lindsay wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Yeah. I guess they're getting married in like three weeks or something."

"She doesn't waste any time, does she." Stella was furious. Not just at Danny, but that someone hadn't called her sooner to tell her Danny's 'good' news. Had she known sooner, she would have been back in the office a helluva lot faster.

"Flack's the Best Man. Rikki's got a sister I guess who's gonna be her Maid of Honor. You'll probably get an invite from Danny when you get back to the lab."

"Remind me to shred it. I refuse to watch him make an idiot of himself."

Despite her mood, Lindsay laughed. Then she sighed. "I thought…I _really_ thought…" She couldn't help it, and she started to cry. "I wanted it to be _me_, Stella."

"Oh kiddo, I know," Stella sympathized. "I know how much you love him." She thought for a moment, searching for the right words. "I wish I could tell you it'll be okay, Lindsay. I wish I could say he'll come to his senses."

"I know," Lindsay said. She took a deep breath and let it out. "He's my best friend….or he _was_. I'm going to try to be his friend still. But I can't like Rikki, Stella. I just can't." She stared out her window. "I don't know what to do."

"He's going to do what makes him happy," Stella said. "And you…as his friend…are going to try to be supportive."

Lindsay snorted. She didn't know what else to say.

"It's going to be hard," Stella agreed. "I'll be back in town soon though, then we can talk in person?"

"Okay." Lindsay glanced at the clock. "I should go eat something, even though I'm not very hungry right now. Thanks for listening."

"Anytime, kiddo," Stella promised. "Anytime." The two women hung up. Lindsay tossed her phone into the couch cushions and pulled her feet up under her on the couch. Suddenly, it was chilly in her apartment. She reached for the afghan on the back of her couch. A whiff of something familiar invaded her senses. She spotted a t-shirt plastered to the back of the couch. A Mets tee.

_Danny's_. She remembered the night he'd left it at her place. After a particularly tough shift, Lindsay had invited Danny over for a movie. They'd sort-of been dating then. She grimaced. It had been a _while_. Danny had probably forgotten about it.

"_You're the guest. You get to pick."_

_Danny was sitting on the couch, his feet propped up on Lindsay's coffee table. "Well, whatcha got?" he asked her. He frowned. "Please tell me my choices aren't like 'Pride and Prejudice' or 'The Notebook' or something."_

_Lindsay chuckled and tossed him a couple of DVDs. "Wow, Montana. 'Demolition Man'?" He set that one on the couch next to him. "Oooh, and 'Aliens'? You're a woman after my own heart."_

"_I was in that sort of mood the other night." She glanced at him. "But I watched 'Shakespeare in Love' right before that." She got up from the floor. "You want some popcorn?"_

_He shrugged. "Sure. I'll fire up the movie."_

_Three minutes later, she joined him on the couch as the title screen came up for the Stallone movie. She set the bowl of popcorn between them as Danny hit play. As Stallone chased Wesley Snipes, Danny sniffed one armpit. "Man, I smell."_

_She chuckled as she hit pause. "What?"_

"_I smell." He leaned over. "Here. Smell me."_

_She pushed him away. "Ew. Stay over there. You smell like sweat and like…mold."_

"_This is what happens when I get stuck crawling in old air vents," he shrugged. Then, he peeled the T-shirt off and tossed it on the back of the couch. "Much better." He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and grinned._

_Lindsay rolled her eyes and hit play._

_Two minutes later, the popcorn was on the floor, and nobody was watching the movie._

Lindsay closed her eyes, tugging the shirt off the couch and holding it to her chest. _Danny…_ Her eyes snapped open.

She was going to take a page from Stallone's book. She was going to _fight_. She got up off the couch and tossed the shirt to the end of the couch. "No more crying," she said aloud to the empty room. "No more pity party."

_Rikki...you can't have him. One way or the other he's going to realize that he wishes it was me. And when he comes running, I'll be right here._


	4. You Need to Hear Me Out

**Author's Note****: I love that you guys love this. And yes, I know it's categorized in the humor section, but there's just a bit more angsty-ness before I get to it. :)**

**CHAPTER THREE: You Need To Hear Me Out**

_T-minus 2.5 weeks to the wedding…_

"That's three in a row," Don Flack crowed as the nine ball sailed between the eleven and fourteen to slide into the corner pocket. He took a swig of his beer and grinned. "Ten bucks a ball…you're gonna owe me your next paycheck."

"It'll have to wait 'til after the wedding," Danny said. He leaned on his stick. He shook his head. "My mom's not exactly rolling in it, and Rikki's folks can only afford to pay for the church and Rikki's dress."

Flack shrugged. "Gee. That sucks."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Thanks for the support, Best Man."

Flack set his stick against the pool table and leaned against the breakfast bar. "Danny…" He paused, choosing his words carefully. "Look…ever since you and I were kids we always told each other we'd support whatever stupid, crazy decision one or the other of us was going to make-no matter how much trouble we were gonna get in-but not if it was gonna ruin our lives." He looked at his best friend in earnest. "I'm happy you asked me to be best man but…I can't support you on this one. I think you're makin' a big mistake."

"Do you." There was an edge in Danny's voice.

Flack pointed down the hall. "That…woman, living down the hall from you? She suffered a terrible, horrible tragedy that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, okay? But Messer-" Flack punctuated the next four words with a finger jab in Danny's direction- "It. Wasn't. Your. Fault."

Danny opened his mouth to say something, but Flack held up a hand. "No. You need to hear this, so shut up and listen. I understand that you both got hurt that day. You felt like it was your fault, like you needed to make up for it. The two of you needed something to take your mind off the pain, and you found it in each other's bedroom."

"You don't know how I felt-how I _feel_, Flack!" Danny exploded. "I killed her _son_! I left her alone in the world!"

"And you think that gettin' married to her is gonna make the both of you feel better? That you're gonna fill the void?" Flack came around the other side of the table and slammed his hands down. "You're an idiot. It's just gonna be a temporary solution. Pretty soon, you're gonna be stuck with her for the rest of your life and you're gonna be miserable!" He glared at Danny. "And I _know_ that Ruben wouldn't have wanted that for _either_ of you."

He was expecting the punch, but it still hurt. He staggered back a step or two. Danny looked furious.

Flack held up two fingers to his split lip. "You don't love her," he ground out. "And she doesn't love you." He picked up his coat and shrugged into it. "I'll stand up there with you, Danny. You're my friend. That's what friends do. But don't expect any words of encouragement." He opened the door. "Think about what you're doing, Danny. Think about who you're going to hurt if you do this." As an afterthought, he added, "It won't just be you and Rikki you're hurting if you do this." He closed the door behind him.

Danny picked up his friend's half-empty beer and threw it against the door. It shattered, sending glass and amber liquid flying. He heard the neighbor's dog barking down the hall. "Shut up you _stupid_ mutt!" he screamed at it. He dropped onto his couch.

Flack didn't get it. _Nobody_ did. Nobody knew how he was feeling. Nobody knew the nightmares he had. The ones only Rikki could make go away. He _loved_ Rikki. He wanted the nightmares to go away.

He didn't want to feel like this anymore. He just wanted someone to understand that. He found himself picking up his phone, and dialing, his fingers drifting over numbers he'd committed to memory.

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><p>The low buzzing noise woke her up. She groped for her phone, almost knocking it off the table and onto the floor. Without glancing at the screen, she answered it. "Hello?"<p>

"….Montana?"

Lindsay opened her eyes. The TV was on silent, the old Fred Astaire movie rolling through the title menu again and again. "Danny?"

"I-I'm sorry," he stammered on the other end. "I um…I meant to call-"

"Somehow I don't think we're even close to each other in your Contact list."

"Lindsay….I-"

"Danny, save it, okay?" He closed his eyes, grimacing at the pain in her voice. "I don't want to hear it. I don't care. You need to do what you think is best. I've already told you where I stand. I'm learning to let you go. It's going to take me awhile, and you'll forgive me if I don't send a card or anything to you and the new Mrs., okay, but this is something I'm gonna need to deal with on my own."

"Take a few more rain walks, huh?" Danny said.

"A few," Lindsay agreed.

"Maybe I should try one sometime," he said quietly. "You know. Clear my head."

"Yeah, maybe you should."

Danny gave a short laugh. "You um, you missed it tonight. Flack really ripped me a new one."

"I'm sorry," Lindsay said, sounding like she meant it. "We shouldn't judge. We're your friends, though, so we are going to tell you how we feel."

"And how do _you_ feel?" he asked after a moment.

There was a pause at the other end of the line. "Good night, Danny." There was a click, and then nothing.

There was a knock on his door, and Danny got out of the recliner to answer. "Are you okay?" Rikki asked, standing in the hall in a pair of drawstring sweats and one of Danny's t-shirts. "I heard yelling."

Danny held his arms open, and Rikki met him with a hug. "Everything's fine," he told her, kissing the top of her head. "It's fine."

He didn't have nightmares that night.


	5. Your Lovely BrideToBe

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of "CSI:NY"-they belong to Anthony E. Zuiker and CBS. "Speak Now" lyrics and title belong to Taylor Swift.**

**Chapter Four: Your Lovely Bride-To-Be**

"Don't look now," Adam muttered under his breath the next afternoon as he and Lindsay and Sheldon Hawkes were analyzing a 911 call from a crime scene. "The Dragon Lady is here."

Hawkes and Lindsay both looked up to see Rikki stepping off the elevator. Lindsay ducked her head so the woman wouldn't see her-or the ugly shade of red she was turning. "You know Linds, if you kicked her ass right now, we'd be solidly in your corner," Hawkes told her.

Lindsay smiled as she moved the mouse back to the beginning of the audio sample. "Yes, but I happen to like my job. And Mac's sort of, y'know, right there. And with the glass walls and all…"

Adam shrugged as he watched Rikki walk meekly down the hall. As if she was scared to be there. _She should be, there's half a dozen people on this floor who could make her disappear without a trace_. Danny was his friend, and if she hurt him, Adam could think of a few creative ways to get rid of the body. "She's so fake," he grimaced. "That whole 'Oh, I shouldn't be intruding on you during your work day'-" He'd put on a fake falsetto, and Hawkes laughed, "-is totally an act."

"Like she cares if she's interrupting Danny at work," Hawkes added. "She gets him fired, she gets him all to herself, with no competition."

"You could totally take her, Lindsay," Adam encouraged.

"Yeah, wouldn't you like to see two women in a brawl," Lindsay teased. "Come on, guys, we've got evidence to analyze and a killer to catch." She glanced up over the top of the screens. "Dragon Lady will just have to wait."

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><p>He'd seen her walk a little faster as she breezed by his office. He was well aware of the fact that it was only three in the afternoon, and that Danny was <em>not<em> off until at least eight.

Mac Taylor got out of his desk chair and stepped over to his office door. "Miss Sandoval?" he called politely.

She turned around with a deer-in-the-headlights look.

He was also well aware of the fact that he scared the _hell_ out of her.

"Detective Taylor!" she said. "It's good to see you again!" she added, a little _too_ cheerfully. He'd interrogated enough guilty suspects to know that she was none too happy to see him.

"Danny's out in the field," Mac said. "Is there something I can help you with?"

She bit her lip. "Oh…he's not here?" She came back up the hall and up to him. He dwarfed her by at least a foot, and he was intimidating as hell. "Well, I just wanted to stop in and say hello to my fiancé," she admitted. "Maybe take an early supper." She pouted. "I don't know if I'll ever get used to his hours."

Mac refrained from rolling his eyes, though he wanted to. "It's a hard schedule to adapt to, him having to leave at the crack of dawn or in the middle of the day. Working shifts. Getting called out in the middle of…important activities." He smiled at her. "Danny's very dedicated to this team. But I'm sure you'll get used to it."

His tone left no room for interpretation. _Danny Messer's responsibility is first and foremost to this team. You're second._

She gave him a fake smile. "Well…I'll just give him a call on his cell later. It was nice to see you, Mac."

"Please," Mac said, "call me Detective Taylor."

Rikki chuckled uneasily as she nodded to him and returned to the elevator. As she glanced to her right, she saw Adam, Hawkes and Lindsay. Who had seen the _entire_ exchange.

And who were all laughing their heads off.

Rikki glanced back to see if Mac was watching her. But he was back in his office, on the phone. Rikki strode up to the A/V lab glass and tapped on it.

Adam and Hawkes glared at her. Lindsay ignored her. She tapped harder. "Um, Lindsay," Hawkes whispered. "I think there's someone here to see you."

Lindsay glanced at the ceiling. "Take a message," she frowned. Rikki had taken up enough of her time today.

The fingernail on the glass grew more insistent. Lindsay swore. "Now I know what a goldfish feels like. I'll be right back."

Adam glanced at Hawkes. "Twenty on Lindsay."

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><p>"Rikki." Lindsay plastered what she hoped looked like a semi-friendly smile on her face. "Can I help you?"<p>

"Is there somewhere we can talk in private?" Rikki matched her tone perfectly.

"Sure." Lindsay brushed past her, letting her shoulder make contact for a split second, as she headed down the hall to the office she shared with Danny. She closed the door behind her, and sat down in her desk chair, propping her feet on the desk. "How can I help you?"

"I just wanted to make sure there were no hard feelings," Rikki said. "I know you and Danny were….close."

"We were," Lindsay replied. "_Very_." _Every time you see that pool table you remember that. _"No, no hard feelings," Lindsay said. "The best woman will win." She picked her verbage carefully.

It was _not_ lost on Rikki. The other woman glanced at Lindsay's desk, where there was a photo of Danny and Lindsay in Ballistics, striking a _Charlie's Angels_ pose. She had a semi-automatic, he had a crowbar. It was one of Lindsay's favorite pictures. "Well I just wanted to say….I hope you don't take offense-"

"I'm sure I won't," Lindsay cut in. The interrupting was pissing Rikki off, she could see her ears turning red.

"I don't think we'll be inviting you to the wedding. I'm sure you understand how awkward that would be."

"Oh I'm sure," Lindsay drawled. "It would be very awkward, seeing the ex there. Wouldn't want the groom to get cold feet….start questioning things…"

_Yep. That did it_. Rikki leaned down, getting right in her face. "You listen here," she seethed. "If you set one foot, just _one_, in that church, I promise to make your life a living hell for as long as Danny and I both shall live."

Lindsay didn't miss a beat. "It's always good to see you, Rikki." She took her feet off her desk and brushed by the woman again, leaving her fuming in the office. As she went down the hall, she almost bumped into Mac.

"Everything okay?" he asked her, catching the look on her face.

Lindsay paused. Then she turned around. "Perfect," she answered.


	6. Run Away Now

**Author's Note:**** I just had to jump in here real quick and say a huge THANK YOU to everyone that has been, reading, reviewing and alert-ing. Trust me, there's plenty more to go, so if I keep going, then you have to, too! :) Here's Chapter Six. Enjoy!**

**CHAPTER FIVE: Run Away Now**

When Danny returned to the office that afternoon, kit in hand, he was met at the parking garage door by Detective Jessica Angell.

Who looked pissed as _hell_ to see him. He checked to see if she was armed. She wasn't. Thank God. He glanced around, wondering if there was any possible way to avoid Flack's girlfriend.

"I hear you're the man we have to thank for Flack's black eye this morning?"

Danny paused. _Crap._ "Could be," he said finally. No sense in denying the obvious. He'd forgotten Flack told Jess _everything_.

_Kinda like you and Lindsay used to…._

"Screw you, Messer," Jess said. "What's the matter, you beat up your best friend 'cause he told you the truth?" She was shorter than him, but she got right up in his face, her brown eyes boring into his blue ones.

"Because he insulted my wife-to-be? Yeah," Danny said. "If he'd have kept his mouth shut, his eye wouldn't have gotten in the way of my fist."

"Boy if this is how you treat your friends when they tell you something you don't wanna hear, I'd hate to be in the interrogation room with you," Jess shot back.

"You got something to say, _Angel_?" Danny growled. "Then just _say it_."

She shrugged. "No thanks. I happen to like my face the way it is. Besides, you won't listen to me anyway, so why waste the time?"

Jess put on her sunglasses and headed out onto the street. "By the way," she called back to him, "you know he's right."

He didn't merit that with a response.

The niggling worm of doubt in the back of his mind was starting to speak loud enough for the both of them...

* * *

><p>"Hey. Danny!"<p>

_Oh man, what now_? Danny bit his lip and turned around. Stella Bonasera was just getting out of a cab. She looked tan after a week on the beach in the Hamptons. "Hi Stel."

"I hear 'congratulations' are in order?" she asked him.

He eyed her, trying to determine if she was being sincere or not. "Yeah. Yeah I asked Rikki to marry me."

Stella nodded thoughtfully. "Hm."

He glanced at her. "What's that- 'hm'?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Nothing. I just thought it was gonna be you and Lindsay goin' down the aisle first," she said. She clapped him on the shoulder. "See ya upstairs." She slipped by him and headed for the ground floor elevators, leaving him thoroughly confused, standing in the doorway of the parking garage.

* * *

><p>"Nice to see you back," Mac told Stella as she poked her head in his office. She came inside and parked it in the chair across from him.<p>

"Yeah. Gotta tell you, Mac, didn't really miss the drama," she said, glancing up as Danny came down the hall. She smiled at him. He paused, looking confused, before giving her half a smile back and making a beeline for his office.

She glanced over at Mac and shook her head. "Does he realize just how much of a mistake this is?"

He chuckled. "I take it you heard?"

She nodded, leaning across the desk. "Can't we permanently assign him a graveyard shift in Siberia or something?"

Mac smiled despite himself. "I wish. He's a big boy, he needs to learn to make his own mistakes."

"This is a pretty big one," Stella countered.

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you want me to do about it? I'm not his father."

"No," Stella agreed, "but you're pretty damned close. If anybody can talk some sense into him, Mac, you're it." She got up. "Well, off to go wade through the paperwork I'm sure has invaded my office." She put one hand on the door handle and turned. "Good luck. We're all counting on you."

Mac played along. "Surely you can't be serious," he deadpanned.

Stella frowned. "On the other hand...I suppose I could have a woman to woman chat with Rikki."

"Hey, I don't want to hear any of this," Mac said. "The less I know the less I'll have to testify to later."

"Yeah," Stella said with a grin as she headed down the hall. "It's good to be back..." _I'm gone for a week and all hell breaks loose..._


	7. Forever Hold Your Peace

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of "CSI:NY"-they belong to Anthony E. Zuiker and CBS. "Speak Now" title and lyrics belong to Taylor Swift.**

**CHAPTER SIX: Forever Hold Your Peace**

_T-minus 2 weeks to the wedding…_

The days flew by and as the wedding date got closer, Danny realized more and more that maybe this wasn't the brightest decision he'd ever made. Rikki involved him with everything, though she did push for very specific things. He wanted something small and simple, and she had just invited over 150 people on her side of the family. He'd made a guest list, and she'd crossed out the name _Lindsay Monroe_ with a flourish. But then, he guessed he understood. It would be just as awkward for Lindsay as it would for Rikki to have his ex-girlfriend there.

Elena Messer loved her son. But Danny noticed she wasn't such a fan of her future daughter-in-law. Oh, she treated Rikki fine, but he got the feeling she didn't particularly care for her.

Rikki's mother Lydia was an overbearing pushover who was a wedding planning Nazi. Everything had to be just so, and God forbid the groom had any input. Rikki brushed it off. "Oh, Mom's just like that. Besides, the bride and her mother always make a huge fuss over these sorts of things." She kissed him on the forehead. "How about we just elope?"

He went online and found cheap tickets to Las Vegas, but she laughed, "Oh honey, I was teasing you. You'd break my poor mom's heart."

_Cruel of me, but at this point, I don't really care_, Danny thought to himself. He loved Rikki but this was getting a little ridiculous. Not to mention that nobody was really sympathetic to his plight. Hawkes and Adam, hell, even _Sid_ made it a point to only speak to him when work dictated. Stella brought up Lindsay's name every chance she got. Lindsay was on his side, but very distant. Jess Angell spent most of her time when they were at crime scenes together giving him a death glare. Flack went with him to tux fittings, but had informed Danny he wasn't making a speech.

He hadn't really heard anything from Mac until about a week before the wedding. He and Mac were on a scene. Inbetween snapshots, Mac spoke up. "How late are you working tonight?"

Danny thought about it. "Midnight."

"How about I take you out for breakfast after?" Mac offered. "You seem like you could use an ear."

"Not if that ear comes with a mouth and an opinion," Danny muttered. He glanced up at Mac, waiting for the "Talk". But Mac had moved onto the blood spatter on the wall, the picture of professionalism. The two worked in silence for the next few hours, combing the crime scene, bagging relevant evidence, and then got into the company truck. They turned the evidence over to Adam and Hawkes and then Mac walked Danny down to the café on the 10th floor. Once they'd gotten their food, they went over to a table in the corner.

Danny kept waiting for Mac to launch into it, but his boss and friend simply ate his scrambled eggs. "I know everyone thinks me marrying Rikki is a bad idea," Danny said, unable to take the silence anymore. "But you know they say that tragedy can bring two people together." He poked his toast with his plastic fork. "We need each other," he said. "We've shared something that nobody else has. We're all each other has."

At that statement, Mac raised an eyebrow. Danny realized what he'd just said, but it was too late to backtrack. "Anyway, it doesn't matter what everyone says. I love her, Mac, and I'm going to spend the rest of my life with her."

"Is it love?" Mac asked after scraping the last of his eggs off his plate a few minutes later. He stood up, plate in hand. "Or is guilt keeping you with her? There's a big difference between _going_ to spend the rest of your life with her….and _wanting to._"

Danny didn't respond. He didn't know how.

All he knew is deep down….he was starting to doubt this idea.


	8. There's My Last Chance

**Author's Note: There's some things in this chapter courtesy of reviews and PMs from afrozenheart412 and lily moonlight. Thank you both for your reviews. And thanks to everybody that's reading, reviewing, alert-ing, lurking, whatever.  
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**Chapter Seven: There's My Last Chance**

_T-minus 1 week to the wedding…._

"Something drastic is going to have to be done," Sid Hammerback said as he and Hawkes and Stella were bent over a body in the morgue a few days later.

"I suggested permanent transfer to Siberia," Stella said.

Sid chuckled. "For Danny or Rikki?"

"Danny….but now that I think about it…."

"Oh come on guys, we're CSIs," Hawkes joked. "We see the most creative ways to get rid of a body."

"Careful Hawkes, I'll have to turn you in," Stella teased.

"Seriously though…I heard from Angell he _hit_ Flack. Lindsay's pretty much avoiding him. I heard Mac talked to him-"

"Well, Danny talked, and Mac listened," Stella corrected.

"Yeah but it didn't matter." Hawkes looked at his two friends. "Guys…we can't let him do this."

Sid and Stella exchanged looks. "Hawkes, Danny's a big boy. We can tell him over and over again that he's making a mistake, but if he doesn't choose to listen…..there's nothing we can do," Sid said. He looked thoughtfully down at the body on the table. "Perhaps Rikki will see the error of her ways and call it off."

"'The error of her way's," Hawkes repeated. "You're serious?"

"Yes," Sid said matter-of-factly. "Think about it. We both know that what's driving them is hurt, and pain, and guilt. Now God forbid we ever have to deal with losing a child, but Rikki Sandoval will heal in time. She may well realize this whole marriage is a mistake as well, and beat Danny to breaking it off."

Stella raised an eyebrow. "In a week?"

Sid shrugged. "I've seen stranger things. Do you remember the-"

"Time out," Hawkes said, making a 'T' with his hands, and the three of them chuckled.

"Sid, do you have a COD on my boy here?" Lindsay Monroe spoke up from behind them. All three turned, with sympathetic looks. "Oh please, _stop_ looking at me like that." She sighed. "Danny's made his choice. I'm learning to live with it." She nodded to the Jane Doe on the table. "Someone wanna tell me how she died?"

Stella watched her friend closely. She'd seen it when Lindsay had brushed her off at the sweet sixteen crime scene, and she was seeing it now. Lindsay was putting up a front. And not a very good one.

She waited until Lindsay had finished her discussion with Sid and Hawkes, and then as her friend turned to catch the elevator, Stella hopped on next to her. "You're not okay, kiddo," she said as the doors closed. "I can tell."

Lindsay looked at her. "Who are we kidding, Stella? You're right, I'm not okay, but there's nothing we can do about it, so I'm trying to get over him."

"That doesn't sound like the Lindsay I know," Stella said.

"I just want him to be happy Stel," Lindsay objected. "He's my friend."

"You and I know he won't be if he marries…._her_…." Stella said something in Greek, and Lindsay giggled, even though she had no idea what her friend had said.

"He'll figure it out," Lindsay said. "But he got himself into this mess, and he'll need to get himself out."

The elevator dinged on floor 35, and Stella hit the STOP button, shuddering the elevator to a halt before the doors could open. Lindsay glanced up at her.

"I'm just gonna come out and say this," Stella said. She tilted Lindsay's chin in her hand. "I've seen the two of you together," she said. "You make a wonderful team. It's almost like you can read each others' minds at a scene. You have so many inside jokes that most of the time, the rest of us are clueless-and by the way, I demand to know what's so damned funny about the pool table. Both of you perk up at the mention of each other's names. Face it kiddo," Stella said, "you're in love with him. I know you're his friend, and out of all of us, you're the only one who can make him change his mind. And I don't know how you're going to do it, but I want you to know that I'll be solidly on your side."

With that, she pressed the button, and the doors slid open. "Just let me know," Stella said to her.

* * *

><p>Lindsay stepped off the elevator and glanced around. She caught the eye of Adam in AV. He grinned and shot her a thumbs up. She just shook her head as she headed for her office. As she passed Mac's office, she caught him staring at her. When she glanced into his office, he simply nodded to her, and smiled.

She closed her eyes once she got to the office she shared with Danny. He wasn't there, with it being seven days to the wedding, he was excused to make the last minute preparations. She could smell his cologne in the air. She glanced at the desk…and realized that the photo of the two of them had been flipped around. So that whoever sat in Danny's chair could see it.

_Danny_.

Lindsay remembered a few weeks ago. She'd made a promise to herself that she was going to fight for him. And she hadn't been doing a good job. Stella was right. Everyone else had done what they could.

It was her turn.


	9. All Eyes On Me

**Epilogue: All Eyes On Me**

There were a million people in the church, but Danny Messer had never felt more alone in his life. As he stood up in front of the church, his hands felt clammy. His throat was dry. _What are you _doing_ Messer?_ he asked himself. Try as he might, he couldn't come up with a good answer. He'd seen Mac and Stella both come in, and Hawkes, Adam, Sid and his wife, and Angell. None of them had glanced his way.

He scanned the crowd, knowing the one face he wanted to see probably had had a restraining order put on her to stay a thousand yards from the church. _Could really use my best friend right about now_, he thought sadly.

_You made your bed, Messer. Now you gotta live with it_.

The music started, and Danny barely registered Flack leading Rikki's sister up to stand with them, didn't notice the usher (he wanted it to be Hawkes, or Mac, but Rikki had volunteered her cousins) sit his mother in the front pew. In fact, he hardly registered the music change, or saw Rikki walk up the aisle until she was right in front of him. She was smiling, and beautiful, and Danny forced a smile. He took her hand and they turned to face the preacher.

Lindsay poked her head from the crying room as the preacher went through the "Dearly beloveds." Danny was facing Rikki. Up front, Flack caught her eye.

Then she waited.

"If anyone can show just cause why these two should not be joined in marriage, speak now-"

She didn't even let him finish the sentence. "I object," she said, in a firm, clear voice, stepping up into the aisle.

Everyone turned. So many people gasped she thought they'd sucked the air from the sanctuary.

She tried not to smile at the look on Rikki's face. The bride to be had turned bright, tomato red.

Lindsay looked at Danny. His jaw was on the floor. "I object, on the grounds that the bride is lying to her soon to be husband," she said, coming up the aisle. "She's made this man believe that he is responsible for her son's death. She's guilted him into a relationship. She's badgered him into this church today."

"Danny Messer," Lindsay said, rounding on Danny. "Deep down, you _know_ that Ruben's death was _not_ your fault. You _know_ that what you feel for her isn't love, it's guilt. You think marrying her is going to fill the void left by losing her son. And you _know_ that that's not true. She would have you believe you owe her something. She would have you believe that she loves you."

She glanced at Rikki. "And I know she doesn't."

_Yep, there's the steam coming from her ears_.

"I know she doesn't. If she had, you would have had more say in this wedding. If she did, she wouldn't have banned your best friend from the church today. If she loved you, if she _really_ loved you, she would have _forgiven_ you, she would have never made you feel like you _owe_ her." She looked at Rikki. "I know you think this is the right thing to do right now, that you think this is going to ease the pain, and it might, for a while. But eventually, it's all going to come back up and sit around like the elephant in the room, and you'll _both_ be miserable, and I know that Ruben wouldn't have wanted that for either of you."

She came a few more steps up the aisle. "That's _my_ best friend standing next to you." Lindsay said. Her voice caught, the first time in her tirade. "Danny, there's so many things that if she loved you, she'd know, but I know she doesn't. She doesn't know that you've got Mike Piazza's rookie card under your pillow because that's who you wanted to be in college, or that your favorite meal is your mother's chicken marsala. She doesn't know your favorite color is green, or that while you gripe and moan about chick flicks, you cried during _The Notebook_ and you sang along with Aerosmith at the end of _Armageddon_."

She noticed Danny dropped Rikki's hands. "If she loved you, she would have seen just how miserable this whole thing has made you, and she would have let you go. And if you loved her, _really_ loved her, then so would have you."

Lindsay glanced around, saw Stella. Stella gave her a nod. "I love you Danny," Lindsay said, the words out loud, free in the air. The first time she'd said it out loud in front of everyone.

There was silence in the church. Lindsay swore she could hear the traffic outside, and the candles flickering on the stands.

"I object too," Flack said from behind Danny. Danny turned slowly to his Best Man. Rikki's jaw hit the floor, and she dropped her bouquet.

"So do I!" That came from Adam, somewhere in the middle of the church.

"Me too!" Angell said, standing up from her seat.

"I object," Hawkes said, rising to his feet.

Lindsay watched Mac and Stella slowly rise from their pew. Neither of them said anything, but Danny knew.

"As do I," Sid said from the back.

"I object as well," a soft voice said. Danny glanced down to see his mother stand up and look her son in the eye. Then, he caught her smile.

Danny glanced at Rikki. "Danny-" she began, but Danny only shook his head.

"I object as well," another voice said, and Lindsay gasped this time, as Rikki's mother stood up. She glanced disapprovingly at her daughter. "I think you and I, young lady, need to have a talk."

To everyone's surprise, Rikki's face fell. "Yeah Mom," she said with a sigh. "I know." She looked at Danny. "I'm sorry."

He gave her a hug. "Me too."

Rikki's mother coughed. "Young man," she said, addressing Danny, "I don't know what you're doing still standing there."

Danny chuckled and shook his head. "You know what?" he said, "I don't know either." He turned, and stepped down. He walked down the aisle and buried his hands in Lindsay's hair as he kissed her to applause.

Out in the aisle, Danny gave Lindsay a hug. "Thank you," he said. "I don't know what I was thinking. I'm so sorry."

Lindsay smiled at him, putting one hand on the side of his face. "You know what?" she said. "You have all the time in the world to apologize to me. Right now, everyone is staring at us, and I want to give them a good reason to."

Danny tilted her chin so she was gazing into his eyes. "I don't have any objections to that," he said, and kissed her again.

* * *

><p>Adam nudged Hawkes in the ribs. "I told you, twenty on Lindsay. Pay up."<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>**: Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who read, reviewed, put this on alert or favorites. You guys are the BEST. I've started work already on my next piece and I am SUPER excited about it. The plot bunny has donned his fedora. Which can only mean one thing...stay tuned!**


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